Open Emporium

Around three days ago, the Russian military under orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin crossed into the sovereign and independent nation of Ukraine with the goal of undermining its independence. It is a three-prong offensive that has forced a new wave of united, patriotic support from a flood of proud Ukrainian citizens. Many of them have joined the Ukrainian army to express their unbridled demand to defend everything the have, their properties, rights, and expectation to live in harmony. Ukrainian sovereignty and statehood are being directly threatened by a man who believes he can dictate whatever he wants and how he wants it. It is the biggest war campaign Europe has seen since the Second World War. For quite some time now, a significant build up of Russian arms in three areas surrounding Ukraine was noticed by satellite. Russia has been keen on establishing a strong foothold in Ukraine for around a decade and the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and official recognition o...

Freedom is a concept that has been in the collective minds of people for as long as we can remember. It is the ultimate luxury of great living because it provides us with everything for a bountiful and successful lifestyle. So many people dream of having it. The ones who have it and were born with it, know well how good things are. But the idea of freedom has changed quite a bit in modern times. People have begun perceiving it differently than others which is causing a lot of confusion within a society. Let us take a close look at the idea of freedom and what it means to different people. For many centuries, freedom was a dream that couldn't be reached. Global populations were governed strictly by control which has been associated with brutal regimes, Absolutism, the Divine Right of Kings, Totalitarianism and Autocracy. Only a privileged few enjoyed freedom to a certain degree, such as elites, but even they did not taste the full potential of this luxury. The ones who did were the ...

Social media has revolutionized the way people communicate and correspond with each other. Cellphones and smartphones have also had a categorical and fundamental impact on our lives. Coupled with the internet, and social media, especially Facebook, they have the power to transform our civilization. We have a vast amount of information in the palm of our hands. With advancements of social media and smartphones, we can access almost any information we want and use it to prepare us for anything such as dating, jobs, life hacks, tips, directions and so on. With these changes also comes problems which have spread as fast as the advent of smart phone technology and social media platforms. Facebook is the most recognizable and largest social media conglomerate in the world. Billions of people around the world (2.8 billion people as of now) are using it to communicate their desires, friendships, and outlooks to friends, family members, and acquaintances. Facebook has changed the way we interac...

Afghanistan is no stranger to conflict. For over forty years, the country has been invaded by a number of powers such as the Soviet Union and the United States with its allies in NATO. Like what has happened before, the country has once again returned to the hands of a group that know the country better than anyone else, the Taliban. Of course, the Taliban did not exist when the Soviets invaded from the North. Their predecessors were there but like the USA, the Soviet Union withdrew. How did this happen this time with the USA and its allies? Let's take a look. There are many reasons why the War in Afghanistan failed. Firstly, the Afghani military which has been funded, supplied, and trained by American forces and her NATO partners since 2001, was deeply corrupt and incapable of large-scale warfare. Many officers weren't capable of supplying their forces logistically, and give them any form of support. There was hardly any communication and long-term goals the high command wante...

Technology has improved our lives greatly. Coupled with medical and hygienic advancements, it has increased our life expectancy, gave us luxurious living standards, and more opportunities professionally, socially, and economically. But there is a disadvantage of technology as it permeates through lineages and lifestyles. It has gradually encompassed everything we do and we have a hard time living without it. Let's dive in. As I just mentioned, technology is everywhere. We can't live without it and that is the first big problem. Our lives have transformed radically in the last fifty years. Even more so with the introduction, development, and presence of engrained tech giants that have revolutionized the way we gather and understand information, plan vacations and trips, grocery and online shopping, and communicate with each other. The fact that each introduction is the "next great trend", socially you were forced to go along with this phenomena to be a part of a massiv...

Our society is marked with consumerism. It is essentially the backbone of capitalism. Both consumerism and capitalism go hand-in-hand in keeping the economy afloat and strong. The more you buy, the better the business does. Strong buying power is the key to consumerism. Without it, the economic performance of a nation will stagnate and recede. But there are a lot of disadvantages to excess consumerism in Western society that can widespread implications to us and everything around us. Let us explore them. The Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th century laid the foundation for consumerism. For the first time in human history, everyday products were manufactured for the mass population. Suddenly, more people found themselves in the position to acquire items that were so distant to them economically for centuries. The lines between rich and poor started to fade. Wages went up gradually which also meant a noticeable increase in buying power. This did not happen overnight of course. I...